Mumbai: A week after a BEST bus ploughed through a crowd in Kurla, a 52-year-old Ghatkopar resident who was injured died on Monday, taking the toll to eight.
Fazlu Rehman was struck along with wife Azmatul, their two months pregnant daughter Nagma and her daughter while crossing the road. A neighbour said the couple had called on Nagma, who lives in Kurla, that fateful day.
Doctors had initially hoped Rehman would make a recovery as he was taken off the ventilator after his vitals stabilised. “But his age and pre-existing comorbidities were not in his favour,” said a doctor at Sion Hospital, where he was treated. The doctor said he had multiple fractures and likely died due to internal bleeding.
“So many families’ lives were destroyed in one day,” said an inconsolable Nagma. “What will we do with the compensation now that my father is gone? My mother doesn’t even know he has died.”
Azmatul, who was in Habib Hospital’s ICU till Saturday, was moved to the general ward the following day. “She has rib fractures, which can be managed through conservative treatment,” said Dr Iftikar Khan.
The only critical patient now at Sion Hospital is Mehtab Alam, whose condition remains precarious. At Habib Hospital, one of the three patients initially listed as critical, Muzafar Shaikh, is still in the ICU.
BEST has announced a panel, headed by its chief medical officer Dr Anil Kumar Singal, to expedite the process of disbursing its Rs 2-lakh payout to the kin of those who died. Asked why the compensation was capped at Rs 2 lakh, since victims got higher payouts from motor accident claims tribunal in the past, BEST spokesperson Sudas Sawant said, “This is the first time that BEST decided to give such an aid. There is no rule to fix any particular amount.” Another official said families can approach the tribunal for more compensation.
